Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-04-15
easter Sunday in Hopkinsville.

The social festival of Natures ver-
nal awakening, both spiritual and ma
terial, was day of unsurpassed love-
illness in lIopkinsvillc. Mild breezes
and glowing sunshine caressed and
warmed the earth. The angels of the
Resurrection walked forth in the
morning, sprinkling dews upon the
gardens till they TENED with life ;
breathing upon the trees till their
green buds quickened; touching the
orchards till they glowed with the
brilliancy OF countless blooms warm
ing the air till il swarmed with
winged life, and inspiring the souls
Of choristcrs in church and forest
with the joys Of song. Easter was
indeed day when nature, by an in
finite series Of object lessons, taught
men the mystery Of the resurrection
from death, which Christ came down
to earth to teach and illustrate by
his own example, after human phil
osopliy had failed to cheer the sink
ing heart of human love by a single
premise o. -. ray Of hope tka.. !.s loved
and lost should one day be restored.
When the Easter angels assembled
in Shining garments from the sep
ulchre of Christ, they dropped upon
the deserted tomb the holy flowers of
Immortality and hope to cheer the
hearts of men and women forever.
The lover saw his dead bride restored,
children reclaimed their parents, the
neither her babe.
The people walked the streets in
holiday clothes. The invalid looked
hopefully from the open window of
his sick room. The old man walked
forth into the open air to enjoy the
sunshine, Children ran riot with joy,
as careless and happy as the birds
which flew over their heads. The
churches were full of melody and
flowers and praise. The sky like
great blue censor glowed and throbbed
with the flame of love.
Perhaps the most fruitful field for
happy and hopeful contemplation on
Easter Sunday, was our beautiful
cemetery, which trimmed and cleaned
like well-kept garden, reposed in
the blue mist, like some green tropic
isle in the azure calm of ocean. Its
solemn panorama never looked so
impressive before. On all sides of
its many walks were the evidences of
careful taste and love. The dead
were tenderly remembered. Appro-
pirate memorials guarded the sacred
dust which Hopkinsville had from
year 10 year placed away until the
worlds final Easter, when universal
life shall triumph over death after
the sleep of ages.
The most touching and solemn of
all those memorials was the graceful
and well-proportloned shaft which
marks the resting place of the UNI
known Confederate dead. Party
spirit has no place by the green, gran
ite-rimmed plot of turfon whose Gen.
tire
"The silent pillar lone and gray
Claims kindred with the sacred clay"
of men who laid down their lives in
the great American CivilWar. Long as
that shaft shall survive the might of
storm or shock of earthquake, ii
shall teach Americans the lessons of
fortitude, of self-sacrilice and of for
giveness. 1t starts from mould hal
lowed by fraternal blood, and lifts
its head to heaven as if uttering a
prayer for peace, for for
giveness of human frailty and for
perfect reconciliation. On that Easter
morning, it proclaimed the fact that
even
"In the wreck of human lives
Something immortal still survives
II is not an idle hope that the's same
divine power which has sown so
many beauties over the earth will one
day raise up all humanity from the
dust while the Easter angels pro-
claim the final and eternal triumph
of love.